Lovely book about an aspect of the Holocaust of which I was unaware. Even though this is poetry, I think that even reluctant readers would do good as there are compelling reasons to finish this book and find out what happens to the different characters. ( )

After their ship was not allowed to dock in the United States or Canada, boatloads of Jewish refugees from Europe headed for the small island of Cuba. Some were allowed to disembark; others were not. In free verse, this tells the story of a teenage boy who left his family behind in Germany and learned to live in Cuba. ( )

I got this book from the library but have to get a real paper copy for myself because I need to pass this one around. This has to be one my top 5 reads for the year. It's a book written in verse about a 13 year old Jewish boy whose parents manage to get him out of Germany in 1939 on a refugee ship bound for America. The ship was refused entry into both the US and Canada but, after paying bribes, refugees were allowed into Cuba. Only such simple, beautiful poetry could express so clearly what Daniel has left behind in Germany. Speaking of kristallnacht:

"How can hatred havesuch a beautiful name?Crystal should be clear,but on that dark nightthe glass of broken windowsdid not glitter."

Adjusting to a new land:

"I am not accustomed to buildingswith trees and flowers at the centerand a view of open skyright in the middle of the housewhere one would expect to finda stone fireplaceand sturdy brick walls.

...here I amin the sweaty tropics, struggling to breathe humid air that feels as thick as the steamfrom a pot of my mother'sfragrant tea."

He meets a young girl named Paloma who loves birds and lives with her enterprising father El Gordo, named not for his girth but for the girth of his wallet. He is one deciding how much money in bribes will be necessary to allow refugees to land instead of being sent back to death in Europe. She secretly gives Daniel cool clothing meant for her tropical island rather than the warm German clothing he came with:

"and I give him one of my father'smany fine Panama hats,an expensive jipijapa hat,cool and comfortablelike a splendid circle of shadefrom a portable tree."

They meet David, an older refugee from Russia who talks about a time when Carnival was

"cancelled when a Cuban official decidedthe dances were too African,too tribal...but outlawing dance in Cubais like trying to hide the sun with one finger."

There's lots of poetry about making music because Daniel comes from a musical family and loves making music himself with anything he has at hand from instruments made out of pots and pans or turtle shells to a donated guitar. He participates in Carnival with Paloma, but feels guilty when he finds it is a religious holiday. He is constantly torn between his young man's urge to celebrate life and his awareness of the evils of some humans and the yearning for peace and to be reunited with his family.

This is a book you can easily read in an hour but will want to draw out as long as possible ( )

Beautifully written story of a young Jewish boy who escapes from Nazi Germany and heads across to North America. The boat he is on is turned away from Canada and the US so heads to Cuba. He befriends a young local girl and a Russian Jew. An interesting and little known piece of history. ( )

Wikipedia in English (1)

Daniel has escaped Nazi Germany with nothing but a desperate dream that he might one day find his parents again. But that golden land called New York has turned away his ship full of refugees, and Daniel finds himself in Cuba.

As the tropical island begins to work its magic on him, the young refugee befriends a local girl with some painful secrets of her own. Yet even in Cuba, the Nazi darkness is never far away . . .

Escaping from Nazi Germany to Cuba in 1939, a young Jewish refugee dreams of finding his parents again, befriends a local girl with painful secrets of her own, and discovers that the Nazi darkness is never far away.